B Corp Certification is Just the Beginning
Celebrating 13 years as a B Corp and early adopter of the business as a force for good framework.
In honor of B Corp Month, we connected with Council Fire’s CEO and Founder, George Chmael II, to learn about the company’s history as a pioneer in the sustainable business movement, how the B Corp framework dovetailed seamlessly with our company’s purpose, and why a new way of doing business is so critical to our shared futures.
Council Fire was founded in 2008 and joined the B Corp community in its early days in 2010. What drew you to the movement?
We founded Council Fire with the express purpose of driving positive environmental, social, and economic impact by providing professional services to support organizations in becoming more sustainable. We knew the private sector had the most resources and yet was doing the least to address our most pressing global challenges like climate change, poverty, racism, and wealth and education inequalities. As a society, we’ve had this unfortunate habit of asking government and public interest groups to solve our most difficult problems while businesses primarily pursue financial returns regardless of societal costs. We knew then, and still know now, that “business as usual” needed to change.
We envisioned a different kind of corporate behavior — a holistic, impact-focused, purpose-driven approach to making more than just financial profit, an approach that would redefine profit to include social and environmental benefits as well. We quickly recognized that the nascent B Corp certification would be one important tool in the effort to change drivers and utilize business as a force for good.
Why did you feel it was important to pursue certification at that time?
Not only was it important for us to tangibly demonstrate our commitment to sustainable practices, transparency, and accountability, we also wanted a third-party, independent analysis of our behaviors to ensure that we were maximizing our impacts. Further, the B Impact Assessment pushed and continues to push us to continuously act, measure, and improve. At the same time, the standard provides us with another additional tool to use in supporting our clients on their own sustainability journey.
Of course, certification is only one step in the journey and isn’t necessarily the right step for every company at a given moment in time. As our company tagline states, the key shift occurs through “redefining profit” to include positive environmental and social returns. This new approach to business unlocks the power of the private sector in ways that give us a fighting chance in the battle against climate change and all of society’s biggest challenges.
Of all the “better business” certifications out there, why do you think the B Corp movement has taken flight with now over 6,000 certified companies worldwide?
Certifications can play an important role in driving behavior change. Often, there are multiple certifications seeking to address different components of organizational behavior. The same is true for the sustainable business movement and there are several important tools for tracking sustainable practices. We use several of them in our client work. However, our team quickly recognized that the B Corp certification was the most comprehensive and stringent, composed of rigorous standards of performance, accountability, and transparency covering environmental, community, worker, and governance matters. Even more important than the standard is the community of like-minded businesses in which the real power of the movement lies. In entering the B Corp community, we joined what at the time were dozens of companies focused on changing the purpose and values of business. Now our community is populated by thousands of visionary leaders and hundreds of thousands of employees, and we are being joined by hundreds of new companies across sectors and geographies each passing year. Today, our membership in the B Corp community is inseparable from who we are as a company. We work closely with other B Corps, help lead the movement locally through B Local Mid Atlantic, and I serve as B Corp global ambassador advocating for further growth around the world.
What advice do you have for those interested in B Corp certification?
B Corp certification is a transformative shift in the way we think about business. The B Impact Assessment is a great tool for starting on the journey. Even if you are not ready to seek certification, use the tool to help understand the various impacts that your business has on the lives of your employees, the health of your environment, and the quality of life for members of your community. Begin to measure those impacts and set goals for improvement. There are many tools for getting started - check with your local university to see if there are student consultancies supporting assessment (there are now dozens of such programs across the United States), determine if you have a B Local organization in your geography that can help you with informational resources and networking with other sustainable businesses (here in the Washington, DC area is is B Local Mid Atlantic), and contact an organization like Council Fire that can support you in going deep and far on your journey to sustainable operations. Transitioning your business into a force for good will be the most important business move you’ll ever make.
The theme for this year’s B Corp Month celebration is ‘Go Beyond.’ How does Council Fire do that in its business and operations?
Unfortunately, we are now in a race against time with the impact of climate change intensifying with every passing year. If we are going to truly turn the tide, the private sector has to step up to the challenges and “go beyond,” demonstrating how we can simultaneously drive financial profits while also restoring our environment and equitably improving the lives of all members of society.
At Council Fire, we strive to “go beyond” every day, whether it‘s achieving net zero carbon emissions in our business operations, creating career pathways in sustainability for members of historically underrepresented communities, or facilitating game-changing projects for our clients like creating the United States’ first Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership as part of facility improvements at the Port of Baltimore. “Business as usual” has been a key driver of the mess in which we find ourselves. Shareholder primacy has led to the destruction of ecosystems, the mistreatment of workers, and societal inequities the world over. “Business as a force for good” and “stakeholder capitalism” must become the dominant business models. Council Fire exists to help as many companies as we can in making that transition.
To learn more about the B Corp Certification, visit B Lab’s website. If you are interested in taking the next step to invest in making your business more sustainable, email us at info@councilfire.org.